Home Experts Offer a Dose of Renovation Reality

Even with a large crew, it was impossible to complete the renovations associated with the Baltimore extreme makeover, which at the time was the largest project in the history of the show, according to Waida.

The home in Baltimore was only “75 percent completed” when the structure was revealed on the show, Waida says.

“They only showed parts of the house that were finished. We had to finish the rest of the house after they (the show) left,” she says. “That’s something the public doesn’t even know.”

Home improvement shows also don’t give an accurate picture of the true costs of projects, according to Waida.

“I’ve had that said — ‘do the design on the dime’ — to me so many times,” she says, referring “Design on a Dime,” a series on HGTV. “Do they understand that the people on the reality show don’t get paid? Who is going to pay the salary for those doing the project? It costs more. It’s a misconception.”

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